TGO Daily | January 15, 2021 | New Pokemon Snap!
January 15, 2021
In The News
New Pokemon Snap releasing in April
Last year, we learned that a sequel for the 1999 hit Pokemon Snap was being developed — today, we learned it arrives on April 30th.
This time around its called New Pokemon Snap, and its going to be set in a new region called Lental. It has the same gameplay, with the player on rails taking photography of various Pokemon going about their day. Over 200 Pokemon will be available in the game, and despite the new region name, I believe they’ll all be existing Pokemon.
Steam’s 2020 In Review
Valve put out a blog post today breaking down their 2020 year in review. COVID-19 was a major boon for the gaming industry, and Steam is no exception to that. Here’s the image they provided of improvements over 2019:
Hand in hand with these numbers was an increased success with seasonal and thematic sales in the store — so expect more of those. They were also happy with their “Festivals,” where they offer demos, livestreams, and developer interviews:
In 2020, Steam launched their “Points” program, where users earned points for buying games and interacting with the community. They’re happy with those numbers, and its opened up a lot of customization/cosmetics for people to deck out their profiles with.
They are also seeing a high demand for SteamVR, with game sales up 32% (and Half-Life: Alyx adding an additional 39% on top of that). 1.7 million people experienced it for the first time in 2020, and there was a 30% increase in total playtime.
Behind the scenes, they saw a major increase in data delivery. They said that it was easy to manage, and were able to upgrade their network sites despite the lockdowns. They even had to work with government bodies and ISPs to reduce the amount of bandwidth that was being used up in place of people trying to do remote working and schooling.
Looking forward, here’s what they plan on focusing on:
Prison Architect’s “Going Green”
Prison Architect is getting a new expansion called “Going Green” which adds farming mechanics to the game. You’ll be able to put your prisoners to work growing various foods, which can then be converted into meals or exported for money. The update also brings sustainable energy options (solar and wind). It also introduces new ways for your inmates to get in trouble, for growing things that maybe they shouldn’t be.
Star Wars Battlefront 2 Free!
Head over to the Epic Games Store right now and you can pick up Star Wars Battlefront 2 for free! It’s a game that has had its fair share of controversy, but these days people have nothing but good things to say about it. If you’re looking for a solid Star Wars experience, this is your chance :)
Also In The News
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